


Prime's Protoform Pod

by hella_gent



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015)
Genre: Gen, Transformer Sparklings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-03
Updated: 2015-12-22
Packaged: 2018-05-04 19:55:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5346599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hella_gent/pseuds/hella_gent
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The matrix reveals a long lost protoform pod to Optimus Prime. Based on my headcanon for where sparklings come from</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> That title seems kind of lame but I never think of a title until either during, or way after writing.
> 
> Welp, since Rescue Bots said there are "hatchlings" I developed this headcanon that during the war protoforms were developed in pods and hatched. Been meaning to write this for awhile, there will be more chapters coming for certain!!

Although they had a limited supply of energon, it was not impossible to harvest more when this began to run low. And, according to Bumblebee and Strongarm's reports, was made even easier with Fracture's groundbridge.

Today they had gone out to do just that, but something felt off to the Prime. The usual gentle, encouraging energies of the matrix were now roiling; goading him to blindly go farther into the mine, leaving his newly found team far behind. If they called after him, he did not hear. The matrix would have its way whether they liked it or not.

The matrix dropped him to his knees before a particularly rich deposit of energon, and his servos began tearing the energon away. Optimus, entirely detached from the experience, watched in a trance. This had never happened before. The matrix had always remained dormant, past Primes whispering to him when the need arose. This time the matrix seemed fixed on showing instead of explaining.

Optimus returned to himself when a shard of energon fell away, revealing Cybertronian text. Ancient text. Primal Vernacular. Even without the matrix's prompting, he began removing the energon in earnest.

More text revealed itself, winding around a dusty, pale silver pod. Ever so gently, Optimus pulled it from its energon cave, revealing even more text. The pod was slightly bigger than his forearm, though exceedingly heavy for its small size. There was a seam down the center which the Prime absently scraped dirt from as he looked over the text. Back when he was actively archiving, before the war, he easily could have deciphered this; a few blurbs rang familiar, but not enough to understand what they meant.

Optimus sat back on his heals, hefting the pod closer. This must have been important if the matrix had been so... adamant, though it was silent now. Standing, he began collecting the energon around it, hoping for some sign, some sort of clue from the matrix. Should he remain and wait for it to open? Should he take it with him to the base? What was the pod even containing? The matrix remained silent and cold over his spark.

Stepping back to where his team was undoubtedly searching for him, he eyed the pod. Still nothing. 

With one last glance he turned, heading back to his team. Bumblebee was the first to find him.

"Optimus!"

"My apologies for startling you Bumblebee, I... sensed a greater deposit deeper in the mine."

If Bumblebee noticed his pause, he did not comment on it. He reached to take a portion of the energon his friend was carrying. Optimus allowed him to take it, glancing back again.

"-should come back tomorrow to get as much as we can." His attention snapped back to Bumblebee, who was already leaving for the scrapyard.

"...Yes, we certainly should."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not gonna name each chapter cuz ill spend more time thinking of names than i will actually working on the fic!! >:O

Return they did to the mine, several times in fact, over the next following weeks. They wouldn't have to restock their energon supply for quite some time with how much they had accumulated. Thankfully they left before the team got too close to where the pod lay.

The matrix remained silent within him, almost cold. For the first time since he received it, it felt heavy, as if it did not belong where it had been fastened over his sparkchamber so long ago. Perhaps nothing had truly changed and it was all in his processor. Optimus found himself lost in thought more often since the incident, so perhaps he was waiting for nothing.

He was very wrong.

Optimus jolted upright in his berth, hydraulics reeling and vents struggling to cool his heated frame. The matrix, only hours ago so cold and lifeless, now burned- actually _burned_ \- within his plating. Charge shot through every fiber of his form, begging him to rise, to run, to **move.** Optimus realized he had scrambled from his berth, judging by the startled and sleepy surprise of his team mates. He ran through the junkyard, poor Russel and Denny Clay already outside their RV to check on the ruckus. They were just in time to see him transform and gun it down the highway.

The matrix controlled his frame again and Optimus was given a precious moment to collect himself internally. Team Bee was following, though was far behind; judging by the faint buzz of high quality engines and Dinobot treads. Something in him wished they weren't. They would demand answers, and for once the Prime was weary of them. Hopefully Bee had enough control over his team to keep them off his back while he dealt with the matrix.

When Optimus thought to return his attention to his environment again, he found himself just where he knew he would be; deep in the mines, the matrix struggling to keep him moving as snappily as before. Even though they had been mining for some time, this far into the mine energon still jutted from every possible crevice around him. His optics caught barely a glimpse of the dusty pod before the energy of the matrix flared over his spark. Optimus tumbled to his knees with a pained bellow. Clutching the little pod to his chassis like a lifeline, it took all his willpower not to make his agony known to the surrounding states.

It felt as if his spark were being broiled in the pits themselves. Being Megatron's opponent as long he was, Optimus was no stranger to pain; but this- !!- this was something else entirely. It was centered at the very core of his being, and if this horrible, nightmarish burn continued much longer, he was certain it was shrivel up in a smoking pile of ash.

An idea flashed through his pain addled processor, and his chest plates folded neatly apart against the pod. Anything- _anything_ \- that could help dissipate this debilitating heat.

-but immediately, the matrix cooled, and Optimus was left to curl over the blessedly cold object he held as his frantically gasped along with his vents to cool his frame. His sparkchamber remained open, his spark whirling trying to dissipate the heat it absorbed and endured.

The pain faded slowly. After a few minutes he was able to properly right himself and close his chest plates. Mere inches from closing fully, an alert flashed across his HUD and the panels snapped apart, startling him enough to jolt him away from the pod. There was resistance, and Optimus froze.

There, slipping its way back between the parted plates of the pod, was a mini grey servo. It must have sensed his optics on it, as the plates almost timidly split farther. The little hand was pulled against a little chassis, and just above; a pair gently flickering optics, wide with possibly as much surprise as the Prime felt. Optimus brought a servo up, offering the delicate protoform a digit. They reached out again, tiny digits twitching instead of grasping, the softest plating resting against it. He had never seen or felt such plating before, and, with the bland silver plating, came to the understanding that it was freshly laid. As fresh as a new mech out of Vector Sigma.

The matrix seemed back to its usual self, whispering to him again. This time, it whispered bitter sweet nothings of bright sparks that had still remained in Vector Sigma even during the corruption of their planet, packed up and sent away to where Primus knew his children would discover them. This must have been one of them. Optimus grinned.

The plating of the pod slid back entirely, and the little one inside spat static at him. Hm. Seemed their vocalizer had yet to fully online. Optimus held the hand on his tighter, carefully pulling the little frame up and out. A gasp sounded behind him.

Oh right; Bee and his team and been following him here. Optimus faintly wondered how long they had stayed back. He settled the little one beside him and once it was steady, pushed himself onto his own pedes; not once releasing his loose grip. He faced his team mates, but all eyes remained trained on the one at his pedes.

"So, uh- who's your friend?" Sideswipe was the first to speak up.

"I do not know, Sideswipe," the Prime replied smiling down at them as they wobbled beside him, " But I am looking forward to finding out."


	3. Chapter 3

By the time they all returned to base, the humans were well awaken and anxious to hear what the fuss was about. They saw before they heard. Optimus carried the little one on his shoulder, what little energy they had used up long ago on the treck back.

The Prime reset his vocalizer and set in for a rather difficult explanation. "I would like to apologize for my... erratic behavior as of late. The matrix has been acting strangely, and I am certain it is far from finished. I believe I may be 'summoned' again, to release more pods like last night."

Optics and eyes shifted to the sparkling on his shoulder. They were teetering on the edge of recharge, resting against the side of his helm. Carefully pulling them down, he cradled the little one as their optics offlined fully.

"Babysitting then? Primus sure has some crazy ideas," Windblade chuckled and shook her head. "This planet is a bad influence." Denny stepped up and grinned up at Prime.

"Don't worry about it, I've changed enough diapers at this point to help you bots out with almost anything!" A mumbled "diapers?" sounded through them, though he couldn't tell who said it.

"Thank you, Denny Clay, I will greatly appreciate you assistance. What would you suggest I do now that they are in recharge?" Optimus knelt down, there was still a great deal of space between them, but it was better than towering over him. The surrounding bots sat down around them. They were probably just as curious as their Prime.

"Well, you'll want to lay the little one down; free up your hands and let them sleep longer. It'll have to be something or somewhere soft, so they're comfy and stay asleep." Even as he spoke, he was scanning the shelves around him, trying to spot something that fit the bill.

"You put a great deal of emphasis on them sleeping for an extended amount of time." Drift pointed out. The twins beside him nodded.

"Trust me, once they're up and around, you'll be begging for them to sleep again. I know I did with Russel," Denny laughed, twisting and messing up his son's hair. Russel didn't look impressed. He faced Optimus again with a laugh.

"While I'm digging around for a nice crib, I'll look for something that will work like a bottle too, so they can have energon once they wake up and not get it all over themselves." At this point the Prime raised his hand.

"You don't need to do so just yet, Denny Clay. They may be able to drink energon as easily as the rest of us do." Denny nodded, then went off to look for the bed.

"So," Russel finally spoke up, "Do you know if its a boy or a girl yet?"

"No, but I'm sure they will figure that out on their own in due time." Optimus replied. He slipped farther down to the ground, crossing his struts and settling the still dozing sparkling in his lap.

"Well, what about alt mode?" Sideswipe asked, scooting beside the larger bot and eyeing the smaller one.

Optimus looked the little one over for himself. There were no wheels to be seen, so perhaps a sort of flier? They had no paint that would be telling, such as if they were red and white they would be something that would help in the medical field. They were really too small to guess.

"Perhaps one day they will be a deployer- they are quite small." The twins perked up at this, grinning to each other and exchanging highfives. The sat stiff as a board when Drift glanced their way.

"Thought I saw...-" Sideswipe slipped a digit beneath one side of the sparkling, carefully lifting their arm out from under them. "There! See? They have a mini fusion canon, like the one Megatron had." He set the little appendage down again instead of letting it drop, and Optimus knew he wasn't the only one to breathe a sigh of relief.

Now that it was brought to his attention, they did have a tiny canon on their arm. That certainly narrowed down what they could be when they first transformed. 

It was at this point that Denny Clay returned. He was empty handed, but waved the crew to follow him. Optimus cradled the little one carefully and rose to his feet, following after his human friend. He was shown to an old dumpster, which appeared to be the only thing in the scrapyard that had much to do with actual scrap. It had been cleared out, and was now had a few mattresses on its bottom. 

Optimus shifted his hold, pulling them away from his frame to lay down. They curled up, and he smiled; yes this will work wonderfully. He exchanged his thanks to his human friend who accepted it with a "no problem". 

Now perhaps he could get some energon and rest. Perhaps he should ask Fix-it to look him over while he was at it; this had put a considerable strain on his systems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't feel so hot about this chapter tbh, but I wanted to post something so whatevs

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize for any mistakes, wordpad doesn't tell me when a word is spelled wrong- Thankyou for reading!! Stay tuned! Comments and Kudos welcome!!


End file.
